T20: India Beat England By Eight Wickets

Kuldeep Yadav’s haul of 5 wickets and Rahul’s century powered India to comfortable win against England.

Manchester: India started their tour of England on a resounding note, winning the opening T20 International by eight wickets. The highlight was chinaman Kuldeep Yadav’s magical spell of wrist spin and KL Rahul’s dazzling century.

Kuldeep (5/24 in 4 overs) became the first chinaman bowler to take a five-for in shortest format as he restricted England to below-par 159 for 8.

Opener Rahul then stepped smashing his second T20 International hundred en route his 54-ball-101 as India comfortably chased the target in 18.2 overs. He added 123 runs for the second wicket with Rohit Sharma (32 off 30 balls), who played the role of second fiddle.

Manish Pandey’s injury proved to be a blessing in disguise as Rahul got a chance at No 3. Rahul’s innings had 10 fours and five sixes. Skipper Virat Kohli pushed himself down the order. But it was the Indian captain, who finished the match with a six off Moeen Ali to remain unbeaten on 20.